Jean Mandel (20 September 1911 – 25 December 1974) was a member of the

Bavarian Senate The Bavarian Senate (German ''Bayerischer Senat'') was the corporative upper house, upper chamber of Free State of Bavaria, Bavaria's parliamentary system from 1946 to 1999, when it was abolished by a Referendum, popular vote (referendum) changi ...

, a football player, and co-founder of the Organization of Jewish Communities in Bavaria.

Early years

Mandel was born in 1911 in

Fürth Fürth (; East Franconian: ; yi, פיורדא, Fiurda) is a city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the t ...

, where he attended the Jewish high school and afterward a trade school in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

. He was also a player for

SpVgg Greuther Fürth Spielvereinigung Greuther Fürth (), commonly known as Greuther Fürth (), is a German football club based in Fürth, Bavaria. They play in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German football league system, following relegation from the B ...

, a career that ended after a severe motorcycle accident. He later worked for a hops distributor. He and his brother began a textile business, which was destroyed in

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...

World War II

On 28 October 1938, Mandel was deported to Poland where he settled in

Lemberg Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

(now Lviv, Ukraine). In March 1939, he returned for two months to Fürth. During the

German occupation of Poland in World War II German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, Mandel moved among various hiding places in Lviv. When Lviv was captured in 1944 by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

, the Soviet secret police interned Mandel as a suspected Western spy. After a short stay in the

DP camp DP may refer to: In arts and entertainment Film, television, and theatre * '' Danny Phantom'', an animated television series * David Production, a Japanese animation studio * Director of photography, a job in filmmaking * Digital Playground, an ...

in Zettwitz, Mandel returned to Fürth in the summer of 1945 to rebuild his company. In addition to Rabbi David Spiro, Mandel was the driving force of re-establishing Fürth's Jewish community, whose chairman he remained until his death.

Career

Mandel was also a founding member of the Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation in Nuremberg and its Jewish chairman. From 1946, he founded the National Association of Jewish Communities in Bavaria and was its vice-president. Between 1957 and 1974 he was chairman of the National Committee. From 1 January 1964 until his death he was a senator in the

. From 1971, Mandel was a member of the executive board of the

Central Council of Jews in Germany The Central Council of Jews in Germany (German name: Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland) is a federation of German Jews. It was founded on 19 July 1950, as a response to the increasing isolation of German Jews by the international Jewish communi ...

.Landesverband der Israelitischen Kultusgemeinden in Bayern
''Der Landesausschuss mit den Vorsitzenden''
. In ''Biographisch-statistischen Handbuch des Bayerischen Senats und in den Veröffentlichungen des HdbG ist die Rede von 1950 bis 1974''. Fürth Neuer Jüdischer Friedhof 005

Mandel died 25 December 1974 and is buried in Fürth's new Jewish Cemetery.

Memorial

On 5 May 2018, Jean Mandel and his brother Leo were honored in Fürth, Germany with the placement of a memorial plate. Their names were inscribed on a plate that is located at Marktplatz 10 on the Green Market and in Königswarterstraße 64. The ceremony was attended by some of the Mandel's remaining family and by the Mayor of Fürth, Thomas Jung.

Awards

In 1956, Jean Mandel received the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

. In 1973, Jean Mandel received the

Bavarian Order of Merit The Bavarian Order of Merit (german: Bayerischer Verdienstorden) is the Order of Merit of the Free State of Bavaria. It is awarded by the Minister-President of Bavaria as a "recognition of outstanding contributions to the Free State of Bavaria ...

Literature

* Helga Schmöger (ed., ''et al''.): ''Der Bayerische Senat. Biographisch-statistisches Handbuch 1947–1997'', Düsseldorf, Droste-Verlag, 1998, p. 216 ''et seq.'' ()

References

* http://www.nordbayern.de/region/fuerth/zwei-platten-erinnern-an-jean-mandel-1.7593996 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mandel, Jean Holocaust survivors Members of the Bavarian Senate 20th-century German people 1911 births 1974 deaths SpVgg Greuther Fürth players Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany German footballers needing infoboxes Association footballers not categorized by position Footballers from Bavaria German footballers